Review Summary: Celeste continue in the tradition of dissonance, as Morte(s) Nee(s) can best be compared to drowning away in a shallow, dirty puddle.
France’s Celeste have been busy in the business of uneasy tension. Their third full-length in 3 years,
Morte(s) Nee(s) continues in the tried-and-true-tradition of harsh, melancholic, and brooding. In 2010, Celeste reveals themselves to be more than simply a mirror of their French screamo counterparts Sed Non Satiata or Amanda Woodward. A tinge of black metal can certainly be felt here or there, yet Celeste are
really a screamo band at heart- and they fully embrace that side on
Morte(s) Nee(s). Heavy and dissonant, Celeste craft a distinct aesthetic that's sure to turn away many. The brooding atmosphere gets tiring, sure, but it never feels redundant or overused throughout the album’s 42-minutes.
Morte(s) Nee(s) spans from some more sparse sections, like “(S),” to the freakishly-full sections where the vocals explode from your listening device. The heavier aspects are much more concentrated. Whilst the fuzzy, over-saturated guitars wail on uncomfortably loud, unaccustomed ears are bound to shiver away in repulsion. Until the vocals are described, though, justice can’t be truly done in describing the sheer bleakness of
Morte(s) Nee(s). Rather than using softer moments at times to accentuate the heavier parts, a tactic many screamo bands live by, Celeste refrains from any sort of let-up in intensity. Melody is ditched for dissonance, and those moments that would grant a softer reprieve are almost entirely brushed aside in favor of relentless screaming.
In effect, all of
Morte(s) Nee(s) feels rather corrosive and dirty, as perfectly displayed by the raw fervor that the vocals thrive on. The pace isn’t what grants the intensity; Morte(s) Nee(s) is more mid-tempo than it is thrashing and flailing. This aspect itself adds to the calculatedly disgusting, almost sinister, overarching atmosphere of the album. Celeste may not blow you away with their technicality -- the instrumentation on Morte(s) Nee(s) feels a little underdeveloped, especially with respect to its percussion. On the other hand, Celeste are sure to send a shiver down your spine with the utter despair and emotion, like the feeling of drowning in a shallow, dirty puddle.
